Original paper
Chemical mixing and structural phase transitions: the plateau effect and oscillatory zoning near surfaces and interfaces
Salje, Ekhard K. H.
European Journal of Mineralogy Volume 7 Number 4 (1995), p. 791 - 806
52 references
published: Jul 26, 1995
manuscript accepted: Jan 12, 1995
manuscript received: Nov 15, 1994
DOI: 10.1127/ejm/7/4/0791
Abstract
Abstract The effect of chemical mixing on structural phase transitions is explored. For small concentrations of a solute in the solvent phase, the phase transition temperature changes non-linearly with increasing solute concentration c. A rather typical Tc vs. c curve shows a weak c-dependence of Tc for ccp. The latter regime represents the effect of classic chemical mixing whereas the first regime is referred to as the plateau regime. Chemical potentials depend strongly on the structural state of the solvent and, thus, on the order parameter of the solvent phase. This order parameter shows characteristic relaxations near surfaces and interfaces, namely exponential decays or oscillatory patterns. Solute particles can decorate these patterns leading to oscillatory zoning inside the mineral without any extrinsic exchange reactions.
Keywords
chemical mixing • Landau theory • plateau effect • oscillatory zoning • defects